‘RIP Trip’ painted on walls as graffiti world mourns artist killed by train

“RIP Trip” has been painted on walls across the borough as a tribute to a budding artist from Hampstead killed on railway tracks.

The graffiti community is mourning the deaths of three young men who were hit by a train near Loughborough Junction in south London in the early hours of Monday. Among them was Alberto Fresneda Carrasco, 19, whose family live in the Frognal area.

Messages referring to their tags – Mr Fresneda Carrasco was known as “Trip” – have appeared in Camden Town, Primrose Hill and around the railway tracks leading to South Hampstead.

There has been an outpouring of grief online, with other tag writers suggesting they must carry on in tribute to the dead men.

One message said: “Graff is weird. We all do something for zero profit. More times at greater expense than we can really afford. That’s why the scene probably takes it so hard when someone passes. Because we know that the thing we shared was by its very nature, pure.”

There have been sharp words for online posters who have described the men’s activities as vandalism and anger that the media have misrepresented their lives.

Alberto Fresneda Carrasco

Mr Fresneda Carrasco, known as Alby, had been looking forward to starting a degree course at London College of Printing. He had joined fellow students by displaying art projects at a private view at the Working Men’s College in Camden Town last week. His portfolio of work included a film that was being shown to students at the college until yesterday (Wednesday).

Mr Fresneda Carrasco’s father is a journalist and his mother a chef. He had two brothers. A statement from his family said: “From a very young age, his passion was to draw. In recent years, he showed interest in the world of fashion and came up with a brand with his own designs. Another of his hobbies was buying clothes in charity shops and reselling them on the internet. He had a special eye for business.”

Mr Fresneda Carrasco was found alongside the bodies of Harrison Scott-Hood, 23, a former student of Hampstead Fine Arts College who lived in Muswell Hill, and Jack Gilbert, also 23, and known by the tag “K-Bag”.

The family statement said Mr Fresneda Carrasco had “felt at home in north London” since arriving in this country from Spain in 2011. The family recalled happy memories watching the basketball final between the United States and Spain at the 2012 Olympic Games. Police believe the three men were hit by an out-of-service passenger train shortly after 1am.

The leading north London graffiti artist known as Mr Panique has spoken on his Instagram page of his sorrow at the railway deaths, and appealed for people to stay safe. “That image of Reeboks and tins in an evidence bag breaks my heart,” he said. “Could of been any of us. We live for certain things at certain times but it’s so important not to die for them, whether that’s graffiti or partying or anything else for that matter…”

Mr Scott-Hood, who used the tag “Lover”, studied at the Fine Arts College in England’s Lane, Belsize Park, until a few years ago. He was described by staff as “very talented” and “very popular”. His work was said to be “unusual and vibrant”.

British Transport Police Superintendent Matt Allingham said: “The bodies were discovered by a train driver. We know that they were dead for a while before we turned up. There isn’t a sort of safe refuge up there, so if somebody was on those tracks there wouldn’t be anywhere for them to go to avoid the train. If they’ve been caught in that section of track when a train came through, they really wouldn’t have had many options.”